158w ago - Following up on the PSP SaveGame Exploit on PS Vita from a few days ago, today PlayStation Vita hacker wololo reports that Davee has obtained PSP Kernel access on PS Vita through another exploit with a PS Vita PSP HEN demo video and details below!

To quote: Famous PSP dev Davee just posted a YouTube video showing him running PSP homebrews on a Vita. I initially thought “well, not a big surprise, he’s running his own port of VHBL to some random exploited game”, but it turns out this is much more interesting than that, as he managed to get a PSP Kernel exploit running on the PSP Emulator.

Davee had hinted a few days ago on twitter that he had PSP User mode access, but it’s a surprise to see Kernel mode today. What this means to the end user is full homebrew compatibility (unlike VHBL which is hit and miss), and potentially down the road, PSP iso loaders (the video actually shows a psp iso running). Check his video below:

The video shows a minimalist interface called “PRX Loader” which seems to be used to run the homebrews. No word from Davee yet on a release date.

Update: The end of the video also shows some gameplay of Ratchet and Clank, which indicates Davee already has PSP isos working to some extent on this exploit.

I don’t know what impact this will have on wth's release for VHBL. We had actually started the process, but Davee’s work might make VHBL fairly irrelevant. I’ll try to contact the involved people to know what to do next about that.

Congrats Davee, exciting times ahead! Thanks to Yoti for the tip!

From his blog via lolhax.org/2012/03/21/ps-vita-psp-hen/ to quote:

First thing first, huge thanks to Proxima and some1. They’ve provided key utilities and advice for this research. So, yeah, it was really only a matter of time till this kind of thing happened. Sony dont just emulate the userland process of a PSP game, they emulate the entire kernel albeit, a modified kernel. The PSP emu has limited access to hardware, with interfacing the hardware done via a Kermit module. Kermit is a old-timers transmission protocol, likely used to talk to the native Vita.

The PS Vita, is a nifty little device, and the PSP emulator is a good target to get a huge library of homebrew. Check out the video below for a demonstration of what can be achieved.

You can see, that it works! The benefit is that HEN can access the core of the kernel, allowing almost seamless compatibility. However, as you may know, VHBL cannot run Lamecraft. Nor can this HEN currently. Lamecraft uses the OSK interface which has been replaced with Vita’s OSK. It’s likely a software error in the PSP kernel from the arguements passed in the homebrew.

There is other things, and perhaps i’ll make a post for them another time, but for now, later.

-Davee

Finally, from YouTube, to quote: Hi I'm Davee, and this is what happens when you emulate the entire psp kernel in the PS Vita. You can get a HEN! For technical information, contact on at lolhax.org Alternatively, visit #hellcat on irc.hellcat.net

Shout out:

some1

Proxima

npt

girlfriend, emma

dog, cosmo.

PSP homebrew developers

P.S. This isn't a huge achievement, but kernel access does grant us access to the sceKermit library

Following up on his PS Vita VHBL Motorstorm Arctic Edge hack from last week, today PlayStation Vita developer wololo has announced news of a new PSP exploit discovered by Xerpi with a demo video below!

To quote: I honestly stopped counting how many PSP "hello world" exploits in PSP games have been announced over the past months, but these exploits are getting a second life now that they symbolize a possibility for homebrews on the PS Vita.

This time it's scener Xerpi who found an exploit, which I haven't confirmed yet, but I should be able to give it a try sometimes this week. Will this lead to a VHBL port/release? First we need to make sure this game is actually available for the Vita. After that, only time will tell, but I'll do my best to help

Congrats, xerpi!

Note: Let me emphasize that I am aware of several psp game exploits being available, and releasing VHBL for them or not is basically up to their authors. I'm of course offering my help to port VHBL (although my free time is limited.

Porting VHBL is relatively easy, but even with some experience, from the exploit to the VHBL port it can easily take 30 hours, if you include debugging. That's not mentioning that each game usually comes in several versions.)

Another note: you might think, seeing all these videos of exploits, that finding exploits in psp games has become super easy. This is not entirely true. I am sure that my tutorials have made these things easier, but going from a crash to a hello world still requires lots of patience and dedication.